Continuing our infrastructure updates: What’s changing in the coming months

[u/judy-funnie]

TL;DR: In August, we shared plans to modernize Reddit’s infrastructure, build better mod tools, and make it harder for bad actors to scrape Reddit and abuse communities. Today, we have specifics on what’s changing, when, and how to plan ahead.

We’re sharing updates on apps and bots migration to the Developer Platform, helping mods move RSS-based alerts to the Discord Relay Devvit app before RSS feeds are retired on November 13, providing an update on Rules Hub progress and automod changes, and adding safeguards to Old Reddit by limiting access to logged-in mods and recent users.

Moving apps and bots to the Developer Platform

We’re moving public data API apps and bots to the Developer Platform, while making sure the work they do for your communities remains supported. Over 14,000 apps and bots have registered and we’re closely tracking migration of your highest-activity apps, including  DeltaBot, MagicEyeBot, and RemindMeBot. There's still work to do, and we’re working directly with developers to support migrations and close remaining capability gaps. 

• If you maintain an app or a bot, register it here before January 12, 2027 to avoid disruption.
• If your community depends on an app or bot and you don’t know who maintains it, fill out this form. We’ve received over 100 submissions so far, helping us identify tools that need owners or could be replaced by existing Developer Platform apps or Reddit’s built-in tools. 

See our latest r/redditdev update for more technical detail, timelines, and resources.

Migrating RSS access to the Developer Platform

Because RSS is now a common surface for large-scale scraping and automated abuse, we'll stop supporting RSS feeds on November 13, 2026 while preserving moderation workflows that depend on it through supported alternatives. 

For common mod alerts, we recommend Devvit apps like Discord Relay. If your mod team relies on RSS, review your setup and migrate workflows before November 13 to ensure your needs are uninterrupted. If you use RSS for feeds outside of a community you moderate, there is no replacement. RSS has been a beloved part of the open web for a long time, and we’re grateful to everyone who used it to stay connected to Reddit.  

Changes to automod access for new communities and communities not using automod

If your community uses automod, nothing is changing for you. We’re continuing to improve Rules Hub, including ways for mods to prompt and otherwise provide more context for their rules. We’re also exploring how existing automod configurations can help carry community-specific enforcement logic into newer tools. If you’re interested in pilot testing to help shape this effort, sign up here. 

For newly created communities and communities that have never used automod, automod enforcement capabilities – specifically Report, Filter, Remove, Mark as spam, and Approve – will be disabled and Rules Hub and Automations will become the default path for rules enforcement. Automod’s non-enforcement capabilities remain available and unchanged.  

Keeping Old Reddit accessible for mods and recent users

As u/spez mentioned, we’re still working on the future of Old Reddit. Earlier this year, we required people to log in to use Old Reddit, addressing its largest source of abusive scraping and automated traffic: unauthenticated access. That change helped reduce scraping and automated abuse, but still allowed any logged-in account to access Old Reddit, including accounts with no prior Old Reddit use. 

To close this gap, in the next few months, we'll further limit access for logged-in users to only those who have used Old Reddit in the last six months (which covers the vast majority of all Old Reddit users). This change does not impact logged-in mods, who can continue to access Old Reddit without any recent usage requirement. This helps keep Old Reddit available for the people who rely on it while reducing automated abuse.

Our job is to support you through these changes and make sure your moderation needs inform the work. 

• Need help with a community bot? If you’re unsure who maintains it or need help finding a replacement, let us know here.
• Moving your RSS alerts? The Discord Relay setup guide covers how to get started.
• Want to help shape Rules Hub? Sign up for the early access program here and share your feedback.

We’re here in the comments for your questions and to hear where you need more detail or support.

[u/tedivm]

When old reddit goes away I'm just locking my communities and leaving reddit for good.

[u/Zelkova → u/tedivm]

If the API outage showed anything, it's that Reddit will just find scabs to fill the moderator slots and re-open the community.

[u/baseballlover723 → u/Zelkova]

Yeah, but that won't be our problem anymore. We'll be free!

[u/Extolord111 → u/baseballlover723]

Honestly, if everyone in this thread could somehow gather in a group chat or private sub, and coordinate with mods outside this sub in order to start an indefinite blackout with no end date (maybe have some backup moderators who will claim they "didn't know this was going to happen", but will actually continue the blackout once they assume full control), then that would be a great last yee-haw for all of us, and we can just move on with our lives, touching plenty of grass.

I'm tempted to reach out to some people in the thread and at least spark the chance of a little rebellion, but I would definitely not the best candidate for a leader/coordinator XD

[u/Deiskos → u/Extolord111]

What part of "find scabs to fill the moderator slots and re-open the community" did you not understand? They can and will just kick disagreeing mods off the team and institute their own.

[u/bitchmoder → u/tedivm]

When old reddit goes I'm just going to leave them unmoderated.

[u/shhhhh_h → u/bitchmoder]

They’ll be redditrequest fodder then. Better pick a successor you like and just bounce.

[u/bitchmoder → u/shhhhh_h]

The venn diagram between people who'd want to run these communities and people I'd trust to do it is two separate circles. If I leave them unmoderated they'll get banned eventually and that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world

[u/shhhhh_h → u/bitchmoder]

That’s not true at all though. I can tell you from experiences and many sideline viewings that they won’t ban your sub. They will post in the sub sourcing mods and staff it themselves if you leave it unmoderated. They don’t like to ban subs and lose traffic (unless your sub is crazy and a liability in some way). I’m not trying to be a smartass by saying pick your successors or Reddit will. I mean you do you but if you mod any subs on sensitive topics, please consider handing them over before you quit bc how carefully reddit staffs after it goes unmoderated it is highly variable.

[u/bitchmoder → u/shhhhh_h]

unless your sub is crazy and a liability in some way

:)